1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotation hinge apparatus of a portable terminal, which can guide and move the hinge apparatus linearly or in an inclined manner and then in a curved manner when a folder is rotated in the clockwise and counter-clockwise directions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, “a portable terminal” refers to a device capable of performing wireless communication with a partner while being carried by a user. Portable terminals are classified into various types according to their appearance. For example, portable terminals are classified into a bar-type, a flip-type, or a folder-type according to their appearance. The bar-type terminal refers to a portable terminal in which a single housing is in the shape of a bar, a flip-type terminal refers to a portable terminal in which a bar-type housing and a flip can rotate by a hinge apparatus, and a folder-type terminal refers to one in which a folder connects to a single bar-type housing by a hinge apparatus so as to be folded.
Further, the portable terminal is classified into rotation-type or slide-type wireless terminal according to its opening/closing method. The rotation-type terminal refers to a terminal in which two housings rotatably connect to each other, with the housings facing each other, and the slide-type terminal refers to one in which two housings open and close when they move lengthwise, with the housings facing each other. The variously classified portable terminals can be understood by those skilled in the art.
The variously classified conventional portable terminals mainly are portable terminals which are thin, light, and small, and which can be conveniently carried. However, the conventional portable terminals have disadvantages in that they are convenient only for voice communication or for video communication.
Although mobile communication services have become gradually varied and portable terminals have evolved into multimedia devices, portable terminals still take the form of conventional folder-type and slide-type terminals. Further, although the uses of portable terminals become common and the tastes of users become varied, the types of the portable terminals do not satisfy the various tastes of users.
In order to solve the disadvantages, a display-rotation-type portable terminal has been developed.
The display-rotation-type portable terminal allows a user to watch a motion picture or a video in a wide screen by rotating a display unit of a folder.
As shown in FIG. 1, the display-rotation-type portable terminal includes a body housing 10 including a first hinge axis A1 at its one end, a folder 20, and a connection member 30. Various key buttons 11 and a microphone 12 are mounted to the body housing 10. The connection member 30 connects the body housing 10 and the folder 20 and allows the folder 20 to be rotated about the first hinge axis A1 so as to be close to or far away from the body housing 10. Further, the connection member 30 is provided with a second hinge axis to rotatably connect the folder 20, with the folder 20 facing the connection member 30. The folder 20 is provided with a Liquid Crystal Display section (LCD) 21 as a display device and a speaker 22.
However, the conventional display-rotation-type portable terminal requires a rotation space D1 between the body housing and the folder so that the folder can be opened about the first hinge axis and an end of a corner of a rectangular display device of the folder can be rotated when the display device is rotated. Further, since the rotational shaft of the display device of the folder is located at the center of the folder, the rotation space is unnecessarily required when the folder is rotated. Further, if the display device becomes larger, the rotation space D1 also becomes larger, thereby increasing the size of the terminal and obstructing the miniaturization of the terminal.
Further, if the size of the display device becomes larger, the rotational shaft is located at an upper end of the body. In this state, if the folder is positioned on the bottom surface, the folder falls down.